Domestic case led to shooting of Adams County deputy

Adams Co. sheriff won't discuss extent of injuries

Authorities said a 55-year-old man who shot and wounded an Adams County sheriff's deputy has died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The Adams County Sheriff's Office said Thomas Costigan, of West Allis, was pronounced dead Wednesday evening.

The Sheriff's Office said Costigan shot Deputy Todd Johnson, 43, on Tuesday after Johnson and another deputy responded to a local report of a suspicious vehicle being in the driveway of a family hunting cabin in the Town of Big Flats.

The shooting happened about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the cabin in the 700 block of 10th Avenue in the Town of Big Flats.

Adams County Sheriff Sam Wollin said two officers responded and entered the home, where they found Costigan. The officers gave Costigan verbal commands, but he pulled out a handgun and opened fire on the officers, the sheriff said.

Wollin said the suspect fired several shots at the deputies, wounding Johnson before shooting himself. He said the deputies did not return fire.

Johnson remains in medical care Wednesday night. His condition was not released.

Authorities said a missing person case in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis led to the shooting in Adams County of central Wisconsin.

West Allis Acting Police Chief Charles Padgett said his department got a call around 6 p.m. Tuesday about a 52-year-old woman who was missing under suspicious circumstances. She had a no-contact order against her husband, Thomas Costigan, due to recent domestic incidents.

The Adams County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that the officers involved in the shooting weren't aware of the domestic incident in West Allis until after the shooting incident occurred.

The 52-year-old woman who was reported missing was located by officers at the cabin in the Town of Big Flats. The woman wasn't injured in the incident and was later released, according to sheriff's officials.

Court records show Costigan had a violent past. Three weeks ago, he was charged with disorderly conduct domestic abuse.

A criminal complaint said he grabbed his wife's neck, pointed a knife at her and threatened to kill her.

The Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation and the Wisconsin State Patrol will investigate the shooting.

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